New Highway 1 lanes between Soquel and Morrissey cruise along

SANTA CRUZ — The work to add new lanes on Highway 1 between Soquel Avenue and Morrissey Boulevard is cruising along even as traffic slows to a crawl near the construction.

The $20 million project, to build an additional lane in each direction, started in February and is expected to be complete by April, according to officials with the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission, which is acting as the project manager.

Work has begun on four of the five retaining walls, and is done mostly between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. with one lane closed.

The project covers a one-mile stretch from the Highway 1/17 Interchange Merge Lanes project to Soquel Drive, connecting an on-ramp with the next off-ramp.

The next big step involves tearing down the La Fonda Bridge. The bridge will be removed in July or August, leaving the area without a span over Highway 1 for up to eight months, the commission's spokeswoman Karena Pushnik said.

Not having the bridge — a heavily-traveled link that joins Harbor High School and the Palo Alto Medical Foundation clinic with a neighborhood that includes DeLaveaga Elementary School — means major detours and expected traffic jams for the area.

"We're trying to minimize traffic around the school," Pushnik said. "People are going to need to exercise a lot of caution."

A new, wider La Fonda Bridge will include bike lanes and wider sidewalks on each side, she said.

"It will be a big improvement for bicyclists and pedestrians going across there," Pushnik said.

Building a temporary bridge was out of the question due to the added cost and time it would require, Pushnik said.

"A temporary bridge would have to be built to permanent standards, and it didn't seem worth it," she said.

Graffiti on the fence at Harbor High near the construction will continue to be removed as quickly as possible, transportation officials say.

A community meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. May 30 at Delaveaga Elementary School to discuss the new bridge.